En chine, "au revoir" se dit avec la main secouée de haut en bas .

When I was a child in Sunday school, I would ask searching questions like "Angels can fly up in heaven, but how do clouds hold up pianos?" and get the same puzzling response about how that was not important, what was important was that Jesus died for our sins and if we accepted him as our savior, when we died, we would go to heaven, where we'd get everything we wanted. Some children in my class wondered why anyone would hang on a cross with nails stuck through his hands to help anyone else; I wondered how Santa Claus knew what I wanted for Christmas, even though I never wrote him a letter. Maybe he had a tape recorder hidden in every chimney in the world.

This literal-mindedness has stuck with me; one result of it is that I am unable to believe in God. Most of the other atheists I know seem to feel freed or proud of their unbelief, as if they've cleverly refused to be sold snake oil. My husband, who was reared in a devout Catholic family and served as an altar boy, is also firmly grounded on this earth. He doesn't even have the desire to believe. So other than baptizing our son to reassure our families, we've skated over the issue of faith.

Some people believe faith is a gift; for others, it's a choice, a matter of spiritual discipline. I have a friend who was reared to believe, and he does. But his faith has wavered. He has struggled to hang onto it and to pass it along to his children. Another friend of mine never goes to church because she's a single mother who doesn't have the gas money. But she once told me about a day when she was washing oranges as the sun streamed onto them. As she peeled one, the smell rose to her face, and she felt she received the Holy Spirit. "He sank into my bones," she recounted. "I lifted my palms upward, feeling filled with love."

Being no theologian, and not even a believer, I am not in a position to offer up theories, but mine is this: people who receive faith directly, as a spontaneous combustion of the soul, have fewer questions. They have been sparked with a faith that is more unshakable than that of those who have been taught.

From the first paragraph of the passage we know that

A．the author was a Sunday school boy.

B．the author used to be puzzled at many things.

C．the school didn't teach the children enough knowledge.

D．tape recorders were popular in daily life.

Thirst for Oil

Worldwide every day，we devour the energy equivalent of about 200 million barrels of oil．Most of the energy on Earth comes from the Sun．in fact enough energy from the Sun hits the planet’s surface each minute to cover our needs for the entire year，we just need to find an efficient way to use it．So far the energy in oil has been cheaper and easier to get at．But as supplies dwindle，this will change，and We will need to cure our addition to oil．

Burning wood satisfied most energy needs until the Steam—driven industrial revolution，when energy—dense coal became the fuel of choice．Coal is still used，mostly in power stations，to cover one quarter of our energy needs，but its use has been declining since we started pumping up oil．Coal is the least efficient,unheahhiest and most environmentally damaging fossil fuel，but could make a comeback，as supplies are still plentiful：its reserves are five times largerthan oil's．

Today petroleum，a mineral oil obtained from below the surface of the Earth and used to produce petrol，diesel oil and various other chemical substances，provides around 40％of the world’s energy needs，mostly fuelling automobiles．The US consumes a quarter of all oil，and generates a similar proportion of greenhouse gas emissions．

The majority of oil comes from the Middle East，which has half of known reserves．But other significant sources include Russia，North America，Norway，Venezuela and the North Sea．Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge could be a major new US sources，to reduce reliance on foreign imports．

Most experts predict we will exhaust easily accessible reserves within 50 years，though opinions and estimates vary．We could fast reach an energy crisis in the next few decades，when demand exceeds supply。As conventional reserves become more difficult to access．others such as oil shales and tar may be used instead．Petrol could also be obtained from coal．

Since we started using fossil fuels，we have released 400 billion tones of carbon，and burning the entire reserves could eventually raise world temperatures by 13℃．Among other horrors，this would result in the destruction of all rain—forests and the melting of all Arctic ice．

根据以上材料回答下面问题：

第 56 题 “…we will need to cure our addiction to oil．”Why does the author say so?

A．Most of the energy on Earth comes from the sun．

B．Oil supply is increasing all the time．

C．Demand for oil is increasing all the time．

D．Oil supply is decreasing．

Thirst for Oil

??Worldwide every day,we devourthe energy equivalent of about 200 million barrels of Oil. Most of the energyon Earth comes from the Sun. In fact enough energy from the Sun hits theplanet's surface each minute to cover our needs for an entire year,we just needto find an efficient way to use it. So far the energy in oil has been cheaperand easier to get at. But as supplies dwindle,this will change,and we will needto cure our addiction to oil.

?? Burning wood satisfied mostenergy needs until the steam-driven industrial revolution, when ener- gy-densecoal became the fuel of choice. Coal is still used,mostly in power stations, tocover orle quar- ter of our e??nergy needs,but its use has been declining sincewe started pumping up oil. Coal is the least efficient,unhealthiest and mostenvironmentally damaging fossil fuel,but could make a comeback, as supplies arestill plentiful;its reserves are five times larger than oil's.

?? Today petroleum,a mineraloil obtained from below the surface of the Earth and used to producepetrol,diesel oil and various other chemical substances, provides around 40% ofthe world's energy needs,mostly fuelling automo'oiles. TheUSconsumes aquarter of all oil, and generates a similar pro- portion of greenhouse gasemissions.

??The majority of oil Comesfrom the Middle East,which has half of knownreserves. But other sig- nificant sources includeRussia,NorthAmerica,Norway,Venezuelaand the North Sea.Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refugel could be a majornewUSsource, to reduce reliance on foreign imports.

?? Most experts predict wewill exhaust easily accessible reserves within 50 years,though opinions andestimates vary. We could fast reach an energy crisis in the next fewdecades,when demand exceeds supply. As conventional reserves become more difficultto access. others such as oil shares and tar sands may be used instead. Petrolcould also be obtained from coal.

?? Since we started using fossilfuels, we have released 400 billion tonnes of carbon, and burning theentire reserves could eventually raiseworld temperatures by 13℃. Among other horrors, this would re- sult in the destruction of allrainforests and tile inching of all Arctic ice.

we will need to cure our addiction to oil. " Why ??does theauthor say so?????

A.Most of the energy on Earth comes from the Sun

B.Oil supply is increasing all the time

C.Demand for oil is increasing all the time

D.Oil supply is decreasing

The train was whirling onward with such dignity of motion that a glance from the window seemed simply to prove that plains of Texas were pouring eastward. Vast flats of green grass, dull-hued spaces of mesquite and cactus, little groups of frame. houses, woods of light and tender trees, all were sweeping into the east, sweeping over the horizon, a precipice.

A newly married pair had boarded this coach at San Antonio. The man's face was reddened from many days in the wind and sun, and a direct result of his new black clothes was that his brick-coloured hands were constantly performing in a most conscious fashion. From time to time he looked down respectfully at his attire. He sat with a hand on each knee, like a man waiting in a barber's shop. The glances he devoted to other passengers were furtive and shy.

The bride was not pretty, nor was she very young. She wore a dress of blue cashmere, with small reservations of velvet here and there, and with steel buttons abounding. She continually twisted her head to regard her puff sleeves, very stiff, and high. They embarrassed her. It was quite apparent that she had cooked, and that she expected to cook, dutifully. The blushes caused by the careless scrutiny of some passengers as she had entered the car were strange to see upon this plain, under-class countenance, which was drawn in placid, almost emotionless lines.

They were evidently very happy. "Ever been in a parlor-car before?" he asked, smiling with delight.

"No," she answered; "I never was. It's fine, ain't it?"

"Great! And then after a while we'll go forward to the dinner, and get a big lay-out. Fresh meal in the world. Charge a dollar. "

"Oh, do they?" cried the bride. "Charge a dollar? Why, that's too much— for us— isn't it, Jack?"

"Nor this trip, anyhow," he answered bravely. "We're going to go the whole thing. "

Later he explained to her about the trains. "You see, it's a thousand miles from one end of Texas to the other; and this runs right across it, and never stops but four times. " He had the pride of an owner. He pointed out to her the dazzling fittings of the coach; and in truth her eyes opened wider and she contemplated the sea-green figured velvet, the shining brass, silver, and glass, the wood that gleamed as darkly brilliant as the surface of a pool of oil. At one end a bronze figure sturdily held a support for a separated chamber, and at convenient places on the ceiling were frescos in olive and silver.

To the minds of the pair, their surroundings reflected the glory of their marriage that morning in San Antonio; this was the environment of their new estate; and the man's face in particular beamed with an elation that made him appear ridiculous to the Negro porter. This individual at times surveyed them from afar with an amused and superior grin. On other occasions he bullied them with skill in ways that did not make it exactly plain to them that they were being bullied. He subtly used all the manners of the most unconquerable kind of snobbery. He oppressed them. But of this oppression they had small knowledge, and they speedily forgot that infrequently a number of travelers covered them with stares of derisive enjoyment. Historically there was supposed to be something infinitely humorous in their situation.

"We are due in Yellow Sky at 3: 42," he said, looking tenderly into her eyes.

"Oh, are we?" she said, as if she had not been aware of it. To evince (表现出) surprise at her husband's statement was part of her wifely amiability. She took from a pocket a little silver watch; and as she held it before her, and stared at it with a frown of attention, the new husband's face shone.

"I bought it in San Anion' from a friend of mine," he told her gleefully.

"It's seventeen minutes past twelve. " she said, looking up at him with

A．secrecy

B．elation

C．superiority

D．awkwardness

He was a qualified doctor who rarely practised but instead devoted his life to writing. He once said: "Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my lover. " Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a great playwright and one of the masters of the modern short story.

When Chekhov entered the Moscow University Medical School in 1879 , he started to publish hundreds of comic short stories to support his family. After he graduated, he wrote regularly for a local daily newspaper.

As a writer he was extremely fast, often producing a short story in an hour or less. Chekhov's medical and science experience can be seen through the indifference (冷漠) many of his characters show to tragic events. In 1892, he became a full-time writer and published some of his most memorable stories.

Chekhov often wrote about the sufferings of life in small town Russia. Tragic events control his characters who are filled with feelings of hopelessness and despair.

It is often said that nothing happens in Chekhov's stories and plays. He made up for this with his exciting technique for developing drama within his characters. Chekhov's work combined the calm attitude of a scientist and doctor with the sensitivity (敏感) of an artist.

Some of Chekhov's works were translated into Chinese as early as the 1940s. One of his famous stories, The Man in a Shell (《装在套子里的人》) , about a school teacher's extraordinarily orderly life, was selected as a text for Chinese senior students.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov ______.

A．had a lawful lover

B．was an illegal writer

C．used to be a lawyer

D．was a competent doctor

He was a qualified doctor who rarely practiced but instead devoted his life to writing. He once said: "Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my lover. " Russian writer Anton Pav-lovich Chekhov was a great playwright and one of the masters of the modern short story.

When Chekhov entered the Moscow University Medical School in 1879, he start-ed to publish hundreds of comic short stories to support his family. After he graduated, he wrote regularly for a local daily newspaper.

As a writer he was extremely fast, often producing a short story in an hour or less. Chekhov's medical and science experience can be seen through the indifference (冷漠)many of his characters show to tragic events. In 1892, he became a full time writer and published some of his most memorable stories.

Chekhov often wrote about the sufferings of life in small town Russia. Tragic events control his characters who are filled with feelings of hopelessness and despair.

It is often said that nothing happens in Chekhov's stories and plays. He made up for this with his exciting technique for developing drama within his characters. Chekhov's work combined the calm attitude of a scientist and doctor with the sensitivity(敏感)of an artist.

Some of Chekhov's works were translated into Chinese as early as the 1940s. One of his famous stories, The Man in a Shell (《装在套子里的人》), about a school teacher's ex-traordinarily orderly life, was selected as a text for Chinese senior students.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov______.

A．had a lawful lover

B．was an illegal writer

C．used to be a lawyer

D．was a competent doctor

A、le

B、la

C、lui

D、elle

根据材料，回答题。

Thirst for Oil

Worldwide every day， we devour the energy equivalent of about 200 million barrels of oil.Most of the energy on Earth comes from the Sun. In fact enough energy from the Sun hits the planet"s surface each minute to cover our needs for an entire year， we just need to find an efficient way，to use it. So far the energy in oil has been cheaper and easier to get at. But as supplies dwindle， this will change， and we will need to cure our addiction to oil.

Burning wood satisfied most energy needs until the steam-driven industrial revolution， when energy-dense coal became the fuel of choice. Coal is still used， mostly in power stations， to cover one quarter of our energy needs， but its use has been declining since we started pumping up oil. Coal is the least efficient， unhealthiest and most environmentally damaging fossil fuel， but could make a comeback， as supplies are still plentiful: its reserves are five times larger than oil"s.

Today petroleum， a mineral oil obtained from below the surface of the Earth and used to pro: duce petrol， diesel oil and various other chemical substances， provides around 40% of the world"s energy needs， mostly fuelling automobiles. The US consumes a quarter of all oil， and generates a similar proportion of greenhouse gas emissions.

The majority of oil comes from the Middle East， which has half of known reserves. But other significant sources include Russia， North-America， Norway， Venezuela and the North Sea. Alaska"s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge could be a major new US source， to reduce reliance on foreign imports.

Most experts predict we will exhaust easily accessible reserves within 50 years， though opinions and estimates vary. We could fast reach an energy crisis in the next few decades， when demand exceeds supply. As conventional reserves become more difficult to access， others such as oil shales and tar sands may be used instead. Petrol could also be obtained from coal.

Since we started using fossil fuels， we have released 400 billion tonnes of carbon， and burning the entire reserves could eventually raise world temperatures by 13℃. Among other horrors，this would result in the destruction of all rainforests and the melting of all Arctic ice.

"... we will need to cure our addiction to oil. " Why does the author say so? 查看材料

A.Most of the energy on Earth comes from the Sun.

B.Oil supply is increasing all the time.

C.Demand for oil is increasing all the time.

D.Oil，supply is decreasing.